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Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by sjg007 on Monday January 22, 2018 @08:21PM (#16210003)
There should be county sponsored transportation for medical appointments. Also it seems uber could work?
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by EnderMB on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @04:49AM (#16212223)
Uber has a lot of negative press, but if there's one way for them to turn all of that around, it's to pander to the older generation and to provide senior citizens either heavily subsidised or a subscription-based system.

They won't do it because it'll hit their bottom line, but being the ride option of both the young AND the old would go a long way towards repairing their reputation.

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by afarrell on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @04:56AM (#16212253)
More importantly, old people actually vote in local elections.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by EnderMB on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @06:51AM (#16212811)
Absolutely. They vote in numbers, they put money towards traditional media, and as such they have a lot of power.

Regardless of their "political" power, it'd just be a nice thing to do. Getting old sucks, and if Uber could do something as simple as making sure that an older person doesn't have to sacrifice their freedom then it's something a lot of people would get behind.

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by virmundi on Monday January 22, 2018 @08:36PM (#16210100)
Historically churches and other community groups, including the Masons, would help in this regard. It appears as if this gone now. For example, black churches use to have get out the vote buses that helped people register. They would work with their paritioners and the large community to make sure that people could get to DMVs or wherever the locality required people to sign up. It appears like that is largely gone. Masonry and church attendance are on the wane. The government as god seems to have grown in its place. Unfortunately, many of the new adherents don't understand community nor civics. It will be interesting to see what happens as millennials gain more power.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by BigJono on Monday January 22, 2018 @09:35PM (#16210468)
I feel like there's a void to be filled here. Something that allows people to build a sense of community without all the make-believe crap.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by virmundi on Monday January 22, 2018 @09:50PM (#16210561)
There might be. I don't know what it is.

As a former Mason, the teachings are symbolic. Few people think they are historical. People don't really do symbolic anymore. We do TV.

Not be too much of a curmudgeon, but I don't think our society at this time has much of a philosophical bone left in it. As a result, we mostly reflect on ourselves as narcissists. Look at Facebook. It's use is a known cause of depression. We feel bad because others make their lives look so perfect or interesting. We get in flame wars on political topics. We no longer appeal to traditions like Locke or Rousseau. We don't reason about things. We feel and are offended.

If what I said is even mostly true, how do you build a society on that? At this point we've stared too long into the abyss. Perhaps we need the "make-believe crap" to bind us. Perhaps its not crap, but rather what the world is and our ignoring is leading to our own demise?

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by behringer on Monday January 22, 2018 @09:59PM (#16210601)
Believing it is what got us here in the first place.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by virmundi on Monday January 22, 2018 @10:21PM (#16210694)
Belief boosted community. Black churches, unified by a belief in the intrinsic value of humanity, got people to vote, to march, and to change. Whites, Asians, and others, unified by a common core belief pushed against the violence and racism of their day to improve the lots of their fellow man. At the forefront was not a scientist, not a technocrat, but a preacher, surrounded by preachers.

At its zenith, as with all things lofty, religion started to fade. In its setting the government rose. It took up the mantle of diety. It became father. We live in its world now. We are poorer for it.

Government takes power from the people and apportions it to its acolytes. Organization for its own sake is the status quo. To streamline government is to unemploye millions. Our calf requires total subservience with little benefit.

Perhaps we’ll find a way to control our new leviathan. Maybe we can yoke it to till the soil of communal need. We could even do that by trying to preserve the dignity of man. To do that we might have to abandon our new truth that life is an accident. That man has no more importance than a rock. This might be a noble lie. We need something for we have only straw to grasp now handed to us by our new religion postmodernism.

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by defo_nonconvex on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @07:37AM (#16213082)
There are quite a few countries with much lower rates of religious affiliation than the US, and decent societal values. NZ, Aus, Nordics, Swiss, Germany etc. And even if they have non-trivial rates of religious belief, its not the kind of fundamentalist and extractive religion that grips the US. If anything, the decoupling of religion from official institutions in the US has given it free reign to accumulate ever more soft power and wealth.

Those countries usually have "stronger" Governments too, with stronger social safety nets, and healthcare systems that don't try to shaft you for $40k when giving birth.

More to the point, someone should visualise the relationship between rates of religiosity and quality of public transportation, across a range of geographic areas. I can imagine the general trend, though there may be some outliers like Poland and Italy.

Content aside, this text sounds like a street-preacher in Battlestar Galactica or The Expanse.

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by marnett on Monday January 22, 2018 @10:45PM (#16210807)
Do you have any more writing on this subject? I have been working on an essay discussing the lack of this philosophical backbone in our ideologies we build up - the new religion of the intellectual liberals of today (traditional dictionary definition of liberal, of course). I can feel a similar emotion in your writing.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by justhelpingout on Monday January 22, 2018 @11:21PM (#16210969)
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by marnett on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @12:37AM (#16211288)
thank you for sharing this.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by virmundi on Monday January 22, 2018 @10:56PM (#16210864)
Mostly it’s from high school philosophy classes and YouTube. Watch enough Jordan Peterson and YouTube will feed you more. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by marnett on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @12:34AM (#16211280)
It does have a similar ring as Jordan Peterson, you are correct.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by r00fus on Monday January 22, 2018 @11:33PM (#16211019)
Could be the "make believe crap" serves a useful function as social lubricant and adherence factor.

Perhaps have more obvious and better make believe (flying spaghetti monster)?

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by lazyasciiart on Monday January 22, 2018 @11:46PM (#16211068)
I think that's what Universal Unitarianism is meant to be - I certainly know atheists who have joined one for the community and felt welcome.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by KozmoNau7 on Wednesday January 24, 2018 @06:39AM (#16221968)
You mean Unitarian Universalism? :-)
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by sevensor on Monday January 22, 2018 @08:32PM (#16210076)
> There should be county sponsored transportation for medical appointments.

How's your experience been with that kind of service? There's a reason lawbreaking octogenarians still ride golf carts down the sidewalk to get to the doctor's office, hoping they won't get ticketed.

> Uber.

I'm sorry. Did I mention my grandmother is 96? Ninety-six?

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by PhasmaFelis on Monday January 22, 2018 @08:54PM (#16210202)
> I'm sorry. Did I mention my grandmother is 96? Ninety-six?

HN forgets that not everyone has coastal tech money a lot.

Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by lovich on Monday January 22, 2018 @09:49PM (#16210548)
That is true, but periodic Ubers are also way cheaper than owning a car. If you only need to travel once a week it would likely be far cheaper than car taxes, gas, and maintenance
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by sidyom on Monday January 22, 2018 @11:51PM (#16211092)
There are also a lot of old folks where Uber is not.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by Spooky23 on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @08:52AM (#16213510)
The average social security pensioner makes like $1200/mo. Even with subsidized housing, not much cash for a smartphone.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by lovich on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @08:34PM (#16219605)
1200/mo is about what I took home for a year after college. It wasn't great but I was still able to afford a budget smartphone to use things like a GPS. I do understand the position of senior who are not doing well financially and I think we should support them, but supporting them doesn't mean they get to live the exact same lifestyle they became accustomed to when they were younger while the rest of society has to deal with reality.
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by cablej on Monday January 22, 2018 @10:25PM (#16210714)
I've got my 96-year-old grandmother using Uber - https://www.gosmartride.com :)
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by justinboogaard on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @01:53PM (#16216234)
It could also be worth looking into GoGoGrandparent.com! 24/7 operators and they automatically monitor and file disputes if drivers go on joy rides. (Full disclosure: I work there.)
Re:Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation sys... by sjg007 on Monday January 22, 2018 @09:37PM (#16210481)
Yes, but you or another relative could order the uber for her. Are you sure there isn’t county based medical transport? Also since she is 96 she might be able to get away with an ambulance! It may take someone advocating for her but it’s not disallowed de facto.